The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) is (and has been since June 1, 2009), the appellate body for, inter alia, the LVT and the RPTS. When it was established, it adopted the existing procedural rules previously used by the Lands Tribunal, its predecessor. Those...
Tenants of defaulting mortgagees
The CLG website is reporting that the Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants) Bill is now an Act, having received Royal Assent on April 8, 2010. The press release explains that, where a mortgagor (other than one under a buy-to-let mortgage) has...
Homeless children – new guidance
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families have issued new guidance to local housing authorities and local social services authorities on housing obligations owed to 16 and 17...
Leasehold update
We here at NL pride ourselves on providing comprehensive coverage of housing law (or, at least as comprehensive as six people who do this in their spare time can be) and that includes updates on leasehold property related matters. So, without further...
Collective enfranchisement and anti-avoidance
Earl Cadogan and another v Panagopoulos and another [2010] EWHC 422 (Ch) concerns the anti-avoidance provisions in s.19, Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. It's quite a detailed case and, if enfranchisement is something you're...
Birmingham v’s the boy racers
Birmingham City Council v Persons Unknown - 0BM70352 (noted by way of Arden Chambers Eflash) is a successful attempt by a local authority to distinguish the decision in Birmingham CC v Shafi [2008] EWCA Civ 1186; [2009] 1 WLR 1961; [2009] HLR 25 (our note...
Admit nothing. Deny everything
Ashcroft v Bradford & Bingley Plc [2010] EWCA Civ 223 Mr Ashcroft purchased a property with the aid of a mortgage from Bradford & Bingley in 1990. He failed to make a single payment and an SPO was obtained in April 1991. He breached the terms of the...
Rent arrears management – boring title, excellent report
Is it too much to hope that - finally - the Government might take steps to ameliorate and / or prevent the use of Ground 8? During the passage of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, the Government gave a commitment to look again at the use of inter alia,...
Don’t forget to file and serve…
Cadogan v Chehab [2009] EWHC 3297 (Admin), (only available on Casetrack) is noted in the current edition of Legal Action, but, so far as I can tell, hasn't been picked up anywhere else. It's only worthy of a short note though, which is set out below. Chehab...
Throwing it out there
A friend of NL (who will remain nameless unless he wants to out himself in the comments) has asked if we would post a question about statutory periodic assured tenancies, in order to try and generate a bit of debate (and, perhaps, even work out the answer to...
The famous five
News reaches us here at NL towers about five gateway B cases that are due to be heard shortly. Apparently some or all of the authorities (Manchester, Birmingham, Hounslow, Leeds and Salford), together with the government, were trying to get the cases...
‘Ard en fast rule*
James v Birmingham City Council [2010] EWHC 282 (Admin) is a further dispute about the power of the court to vary an ASBO. A magistrates court may make and ASBO against any person over the age of 10 if it can be proved (to the criminal standard of proof,...